Where Community and Creativity Connect
Join us for our Blank Plate Food Demos hosted by Bascom Catering at THE POINT!
Thursdays
February 25, March 11 & 25, 2021
12:30-2:30PM
IG LIVE @thepointcdc
All ages can join in and learn how to make healthy meals that are full of flavor and support a healthy immune system.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
See our membership details here!
|
Desplácese hacia abajo en la publicación para ver la versión en español.
|
On behalf of The Point CDC, we hope our community is having a fulfilling start to 2021! We have been dedicating our energy and love to projects that will positively impact the Hunts Point community. Here is a summary of the work and some projects you can look forward to in the months to come:
CAMPAIGN UPDATES:
Renewable Rikers campaign- Rikers Island is notorious for its treatment of inmates, and the existence of the prison is a dark force that affects not only the Bronx but New York City as a whole. For years, advocates have been forming coalitions to close the prison and dedicate the space to renewable energy.
Looking for vendors, performers and educators
Save the date : May 15, 2021
Need Assistance click here
February 25, March 11 & 25, 2021
At THE POINT CDC
March 1, 2, 3, & 4, 2021
9:30 am- 4 pm
1, 2, 3, & 4 de marzo, 2021
9:30 am- 4 pm
Blank Plate Culinary Arts Program is celebrating another year of creative cooking by our teen THE POINT’s Blank Plate Culinary Arts Program celebrates the completion of 8 years teaching creative cooking to our youth under the guidance of Chef Kelston Bascom. Come join us for the final event where our teen chefs demonstrate what they have learned and offer an array of culinary delights and delicious treats. This program focuses on educating the youth in our community about the importance of fresh food and how to prepare them to help lead healthier lifestyles.
Tickets:
$25 General
$10 Community Members
$5 Students
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: A.C.T.I.O.N. Program Manager and Community Organizer
Part-time: 35 hours week/70 hours pay period
THE POINT Community Development Corporation is a non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. Our mission is to encourage the arts, local enterprise, responsible ecology, and self-investment in the Hunts Point community. We are looking for the next innovative change agent to add to our team!
The A.C.T.I.O.N. Program Manager and Community Organizer primary duties include educating young people and local residents, namely THE POINT’s teen advocacy group A.C.T.I.O.N., about the current environmental justice issues facing Hunts Point and to engage them in the campaigns and as leaders. A.C.T.I.O.N. currently meets Monday, Wednesday, & Friday afternoons from 4:30PM-7: 00PM during the school year (Sept. – June), as well as during Summer Camp PowerPOINT (July – August).
Reports To: Director of Community Development & Executive Managing Director
Duties include but are not limited to:
Youth Development:
Recruit, engage and retain at least 20 high school students to participate in A.C.T.I.O.N. (Activists Coming To Inform Our Neighborhood) programming from September through June, as well as lead a similar cohort during Summer Camp PowerPOINT.
Develop and implement an annual curriculum for A.C.T.I.O.N. that meets established programming goals.
Work with THE POINT youth development staff to implement comprehensive intake and orientation processes with all students.
Work with ACTION youth and our strategic partners to organize yearly A.C.T.I.O.N. Townhall Meeting as well as coordination of Sheridan Teen Summit and UPROSE Climate Justice Youth Summit.
Work with youth to set academic benchmarks and leadership goals for the group and individual students and provide support as needed.
Oversee the coordination of A.C.T.I.O.N. program integration throughout the year, infusing campaigning and political education with our arts programs including social circus, visual arts, Mind’s Empowered, Blank Plate Culinary Arts, ICP at THE POINT, etc.
Oversee administration of all attendance and payroll records for the A.C.T.I.O.N. participants. Work with THE POINT management to pursue potential partnerships and sustainable managing funding sources for A.C.T.I.O.N. and Environmental Justice in general.
Check-ins with A.C.T.I.O.N. youth to assess academic and socio-emotional goals as needed.
Work with Social Work partners to provide social/emotional support and referrals to participants as needed.
Other tasks as needed.
Community Organizing:
Work with THE POINT Executive Management and program managers to engage A.C.T.I.O.N. and community members in THE POINT’s Environmental and Social Justice Campaigns, with a special emphasis on our South Bronx Community Resiliency Agenda.
Represent THE POINT at meetings regarding active EJ campaigns such as Community Board 2, South Bronx Waste Equity Campaign, South Bronx River Watershed Alliance (SBRWA), Bronx River Foodway meetings, and at other neighborhood, borough, and citywide meetings regarding environmental and planning issues confronting the Hunts Point Community.
Lead organizing and outreach efforts with A.C.T.I.O.N. to the surrounding communities in order to educate and engage members in the latest environmental, planning, and transportation issues relating to Hunts Point via Townhall meetings, field-work, annual local parades, and events.
Manage and coordinate THE POINT Urban Farm and stewardship initiatives at both TPCDC Campuses several times per year.
Lead Fish Parade Committee/Friends of Barretto Point Park in organizing annual parade and summer festival.
Train a cohort of youth and/or community members engaged in regular outreach and campaign efforts including public speaking, testimonial writing, and effective flyering techniques, etc.
Manage the translation of all materials needed for outreach and documentation for Spanish Speaking audiences as needed.
Draft and deliver correspondences to government officials/agencies, neighborhood organizations, community leaders, and media about pressing environmental issues as needed.
Lead volunteer stewardship opportunities throughout the community in collaboration with partnering organizations and local schools.
Conduct environmental justice tours and presentations of Hunts Point throughout the year to groups of students/educators and national and international visitors as needed.
Utilize digital and social media to advance environmental justice goals as needed.
Other tasks as needed.
What THE POINT is looking for:
BA/BS in Urban Studies, Political Science, Urban Policy, Urban Planning, Horticulture, Biology, History, Social Work or Education preferred.
Demonstrated commitment to social, environmental and climate justice.
Extensive experience in After-School Youth Development, Social Work and/or Education in non-traditional educational settings.
Experience as a community organizer.
Ability to model positive interactions with the larger community.
Serve as a team player and managing leader working alongside artists, administrators, youth, and partners.
Experience in climate change, resiliency, horticulture, green technologies, environmental stewardship and/or urban farming.
Bilingual English/Spanish required.
Bronx residents strongly encouraged to apply.
What THE POINT offers:
Competitive rate for full-time employment with supplemental benefits package.
Opportunity to work with leading innovators in the field of Youth & Asset Based Community Development, Climate Change, Arts and Culture, Resiliency and Environmental Justice.
Rich, diverse, supportive and flexible work environment.
THE POINT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People of color, women and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
How to apply:
In recent decades, the South Bronx has endured socioeconomic disadvantage characterized by poverty, poor performing schools, high crime and incarceration rates and public health disparity. Much of these social issues can be traced to unjust policies that negatively impact low-income communities of color. THE POINT believes that Hunts Point young people and residents have the vision and ability to overcome these obstacles. The following describes the landscape for THE POINT’s environmental and social justice campaigns in the South Bronx:
In very real terms, Hunts Point forms a portrait of environmental racism. The peninsula bears a disproportionate amount of the region’s industrial infrastructure, with the majority of land zoned for heavy industrial use. Hunts Point has one of the highest concentrations of truck traffic in New York City. Already home to the largest produce market in the country, Hunts Point recently became the new location for the Fulton Fish Market, increasing daily truck traffic to upwards of 20,000 per day. There are over 15 waste transfer stations in the community as well as a number of waste related facilities such as the NYS Department of Environmental Protection’s wastewater treatment facility. Until recently Hunts Point had one of the smallest resident-to-parkland ratios while being surrounded by three major highway arteries – The Bruckner Expressway, the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Sheridan Expressway.
The families who visit THE POINT each week have only limited access to any fresh produce beyond the damages or “utility grade” fruits and vegetable found in small neighborhood stores. This fact is ironic since the neighborhood hosts the Untied States’ largest food distribution center – The Hunts Point Market – in addition to other markets such as the New Fulton Fish Market. In its December 2003 issue, Self Magazine illustrated this inequity by comparing produce retailes in Hunts Point with fruits and vegetables sold in other, more affluent areas.
Public health epidemics such as asthma, diabetes and obesity are the real life repercussions of the unjust environmental policies that confront low-income minority communities like Hunts Point. In his 2004 State of the Borough Address, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. stated the South Bronx has the highest obesity and diabetes rates in New York City. According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), 20 – 30% of school-aged children in the South Bronx have asthma, a rate twice as high as the New York City average. According to New York University’s 2006 South Bronx Environmental Health and Policy Study, high asthma rates in the Bronx can be attributed to air pollution caused by truck traffif and insutry in this area. Studies by the DOHMH also indicate a strong association between asthma hospitaliztion and socioeconomic conditions demonstrated by higher rates of asthma hospitalization among residents of low-income areas compared to residents of high-income areas.
In 2008, Advocates for Children listed Hunts Point as one of the highest riske areas for youth. According to The Citizen’s Committee for Children of New York, Inc. for th eyear 2006: In Hunts Point, 55.2% of children under 18 live below the poverty level and 26% receive public assistance, among the highest rates in NYC. The Bronx has the lowest high school graduation rate in NYC at 48.2%. In 2006, 396 youth between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested on felony charges. This is nearly three times the number of youth felony arrests reported on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. In 2005, Hunts Point had the highest rate of births to teen mothers in New York City at 16.1%. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported in 2006 that the Hunts Point and neighboring Mott Haven communities have disproportionately high rates of HIV diagnoses and people living with HIV/AIDS – nearly twice the overall rate of NYC.
THE POINT believes these numbers do not accurately reflect the potential and talent embodied in the Hunts Point community. Urban communities of color have the inherent capacity to challenge the marginalizing perceptions and socio-economic disparity affecting their neighborhoods. THE POINT is working with young people and their families to provide them the opportunity and support to redress social and environmental inequalities. This asset-based, justice oriented approach yields positive outcomes for both the youth and the community.
